In various data transmission systems, data is transmitted by using an optical signal over an optical path or an optical channel. In a receiver of such a communication system, the optical signal may be transformed to an electrical signal, which may be digitally sampled for further processing.
However, the optical path or optical channel may comprise channel imperfections distorting the received optical signal. A typical distortion is a chromatic dispersion, according to which different wavelengths of the optical signal are transported with different velocities within an optical medium of the optical path or the optical channel, resulting, for example, in broadened pulses of the received optical signal. To compensate for such distortions, the received signal may be accordingly processed to revert the effects of a certain chromatic dispersion of the optical medium.
Furthermore, the optical path may introduce further distortions into the transmitted signal, for example because of transmission properties of the optical path being different for different polarizations or for in-phase and quadrature parts of the transmitted signal. Other possible imperfections may arise from processing portions for processing the transmitted signal as an optical signal or as an electrical signal.
There may be some procedures deployed for correcting one or more of the above imperfections. However, such procedures may be associated with a non-neglectable calculation effort, which may reduce the efficiency of the respective processing portions.